I've been around it since about 2 months after it was first made and I can say this.
Problems never happened til GOOGLE took over.
Bastards are responsible for all the problems.
People actually caring about copyright, long loads(I had it for awhile once but it stopped after a week), money grubbing spots all over the place, being recognized as scum, Youtube has gone downhill already. It has been for awhile now.
Google's at fault. Honestly if it were my site and I agreed to the cash thing(1. something billion is a lot), I think I may have been disappointed in myself at this point. Looking at how big it is now, I honestly think in about 20 years or so Youtube COULD have given Google a run for their money as the search thing(it's going from "Google it" to "Youtube it", or at least it was)were it not for the fact they bought it.